[rninformatics]

FROM iHEALTHBEAT
March 26, 2008

New Web Service Lets Consumers Rate Health Care Experiences
On Monday, Angie's List, a Web site that allows consumers to rate their experience with home service companies, launched a new feature that allows members to rate health care services, the Indianapolis Star reports.

The site, which has about 600,000 members nationwide, allows users to rate services in 55 categories of health care, including:


Dentistry;
Hospitals;
Insurance providers; and
Various medical specialties.

Members assign grades from "A" to "F" for each area covered in the ratings.

Angie's List founder Angie Hicks said a poll of the site's members showed that 76% wanted to be able to rate health care service providers. She said, "People are looking for a doctor that they can easily talk to and be open with."

Linda Heitzman, director of the life science and health practice at Deloitte Consulting, said, "It's a great extension of the consumer movement and more evidence of that in health care. We're really making the shift from 'patient' to 'consumer.'"

However, some health care professionals say medical services cannot be rated in the same way as services provided in other industries and question whether the site will provide credible recommendations.

Jon Marhenke, president of the Indiana State Medical Association, said, "The rating system is going to look at the experience the patient has, or had, at the appointment. It's not going to rate the quality of the medical care that was provided. ... They may see a wonderful office and very courteous people, but that doesn't necessarily mean that they received good care" (Lee, Indianapolis Star, 3/25).